How often to feed fish in QT?

[Zalman]

How often should you feed a fish in QT? once per day? Once every other day?

I am noticing that in my small QT water quality is somewhat difficult to maintain at a perfect level with small daily feedings. Although with no substrate and just a HOB filter I can't expect too much in the biofilter dept. I think doing a 10 gal water change every day seems a bit excessive?

Just looking for what other people do in situations like this.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

I feed 3-4 times per day in quarantine and do water changes as necessary to deal with water quality. The fish need to build their strength in preparation for going into the DT.

 

[MrTuskfish]

A QT is a place for fish to acclimate and good feeding is part of that process. A good HOB filter (I like Aqua-Clear) will control ammonia/nitrite in any QT....if you're prepared and keep sponge seeded in your DT system to instantly cycle the QT/HT. Nitrate isn't even a concern for fish in a QT.
I assume your problem is with ammonia, right?

 

[sandwi54]

if you have water quality issue with regular feedings, and your QT is not way too small for the number of fish in there, then your HOB filter may not be large enough to have enough surface areas for bacteria to grow. this happened to me once as I used a small 10g-rated HOB filter on a 29g QT, and ammonia and nitrite never went down to 0 even after 3 months of cycling.

 

[Zalman]

Well the tank is a 10 gal. With a Marineland Penguin 150 filter. The filter is rated for 30 gallons. Perhaps I need a better filter? I am in a constant battle with ammonia, I do like a 9 gallon change to get it down to zero. Then the next day it is back up to .5 or .75. So I do another change. I tried skipping a day of feeding and still the ammonia rises. for my next QT I could try placing the filter cartridge in my DT for a week.

I actually have a spare cascade 700 canister filter which is rated for 55 gallons (I think). Would this be a better option?

 

[MrTuskfish]

I really don't know what your filter uses for media. Some HOB filter media simply dosen't have enough surface area to culture the aerobic bacteria that is needed to get rid of ammonia. But I think just about any HOB should be able to handle a light fish load in any tank. If the media wasn't seeded for a few weeks; it won't matter what you're using---it takes some time to seed anything with enough bacteria. (This is the key). Its similar to cycling a new tank, but you don't worry about nitrate. Because you're using the HOB filter primary for ammonia control; you could use any media that fits and allows water to flow through it. An Aqua-Clear sponge, if it fits, is ideal ---IMO. But it has to mature in your DT for a few weeks before its ready. Bags of ceramic noodles, or any other media designed for bio-filtration will work too. I just prefer the AC sponges because they have plenty of surface area and are cheap. Use it, toss it, and keep a new one in your DT somewhere. I don't like the idea of reusing any media that has been used in a QT.

 

[Zalman]

The cartridge in the marineland filter leaves a lot to be desired... essentially all plastic, spoonful of carbon, and an index card sized piece of filter floss. While I think the canister is overkill for such a small tank I do have many of the bags of the ceramic beads and such.
Would placing a bag of those beads in my sump for a few weeks and then just placing it in my QT be good? or would they need to be in the filter/have water moving over them

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

The cartridge in the marineland filter leaves a lot to be desired... essentially all plastic, spoonful of carbon, and an index card sized piece of filter floss. While I think the canister is overkill for such a small tank I do have many of the bags of the ceramic beads and such.
Would placing a bag of those beads in my sump for a few weeks and then just placing it in my QT be good? or would they need to be in the filter/have water moving over them

They will wo4k only to a limited extend just setting on the bottom of the tank like your live rock does. You really need to have the media in the water flow. Maybe hang the bag in the outflow of the filter.

 

[MrTuskfish]

They will wo4k only to a limited extend just setting on the bottom of the tank like your live rock does. You really need to have the media in the water flow. Maybe hang the bag in the outflow of the filter.

Yeah, aerobic bacteria needs good flow. Even putting the media bag over an air-driven airstone in your sump will work....anywhere it gets good flow. Never have any carbon in a tank with copper or other meds---it removes them.

 

[Zalman]

I could probably replace the filter cartridge with a bag of the ceramic beads. Is there a downside to not running any carbon in a QT if you arent using medication?

 

[MrTuskfish]

I could probably replace the filter cartridge with a bag of the ceramic beads. Is there a downside to not running any carbon in a QT if you arent using medication?

Carbon is really not required anywhere. many hobbyists never use it. BTW, most carbon that comes in filter pads is useless anyway. I never use carbon in my QT except to remove meds.

 

[b0bab0ey]

Carbon is really not required anywhere. many hobbyists never use it. BTW, most carbon that comes in filter pads is useless anyway. I never use carbon in my QT except to remove meds.

Wouldn't running carbon be useful to those having ammonia ups and downs in QT? So long as they're not medicating. I realize carbon doesn't directly remove the ammonia itself but it does remove organic pollutants which contribute to ammonia build-up.

 

[Zalman]

I will seed some of my ceramic beads then. and use those in place of the filter cartridge.